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Lou Cornicelli , wildlife research manager for the Department of Natural Resources, says Minnesota’s deer population is up from last year thanks to the mild winter. He says mild winters mean more adults survive so more fawns are born. He estimates the deer population at about 1 million.

The DNR will continue checking whether deer in part of northwestern Minnesota might carry bovine tuberculosis. The disease last turned up in a wild deer in that area in 2009. The DNR is also continuing mandatory testing for chronic wasting disease in part of southeastern Minnesota, and it’s encouraging voluntary testing in parts of east-central Minnesota.